Two-dimensional self-assembly of 1-pyrylphosphonic acid: transfer of stacks on structured surface

Strong hydrogen bonding and pi-pi stacking between 1-pyrylphosphonic acid (PYPA) molecules were exploited to create self-assembled two-dimensional supramolecular structures. Polycrystalline films of these laminate crystalline PYPA bilayers were easily deposited onto the solid supports through a simple spin-coating technique. Atomic force microscopy (AFM), scanning tunneling microscopy (STM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), UV-vis absorption, and fluorescence spectroscopy reveal that processing parameters, such as solvent, concentration, and surface of the substrate, are critical factors in determining the final morphology of the stacked film. Robust laminate structures could be obtained only when short alkyl chain protic solvents (methanol or ethanol) and a nonhydrophobic substrate surface were used. Polycrystalline films were formed through the nucleation and growth of PYPA molecules into laminate structures at the air/solvent interface before they land on the substrate during the spin-coating process. These films possess good mechanical properties and were easily transferred onto a SiO2/Si substrate that was patterned with Au electrodes without breaking their crystalline structures. The successful transfer of the laminate crystals allows us to probe their electrical properties through a field effect transistor device. A gating effect on the charge transport of the stacked films indicates that PYPA laminate crystal possesses p-typed semiconductor characteristics.     

Verification of variable-density flow solvers using manufactured solutions

The method of manufactured solutions (MMS) is used to verify the convergence properties of a low-Mach number, variable-density flow code. Three MMS problems relevant to combustion applications are presented and tested on a variety of structured and unstructured grids. Several issues are investigated, including the use of tabulated state properties (i.e., density) and the effect of sub-iterations in the time-advancement method. The MMS implementations provide a quantitative framework to evaluate the impact of these practices on the code’s convergence and order-of-accuracy. Simulation results show that linear interpolation of the equation-of-state causes numerical fluctuations that impede convergence and reduce accuracy. Likewise, the sub-iterative time-advancement scheme requires a significant number of outer iterations to subdue splitting errors in highly nonlinear combustion problems. These findings highlight the importance of careful code and solution verification in the simulation of variable-density flows.     

Novel carbon nanotube field effect transistor with graded double halo channel

A novel carbon nanotube field effect transistor with symmetric graded double halo channel (GDH–CNTFET) is presented for suppressing band to band tunneling and improving the device performance. GDH structure includes two symmetric graded haloes which are broadened throughout the channel. The doping concentration of GDH channel is at maximum level at drain/source side and is reduced gradually toward zero at the middle of channel. The doping distribution at source side of channel reduces the drain induced barrier lowering (DIBL) and the drain side suppresses the band to band tunneling effect. In addition, broadening the doping throughout the channel increases the recombination of electrons and holes and acts as an additional factor for improving the band to band tunneling. Simulation results show that applying this structure on CNTFET enhances the device performance. In comparison with double halo structure with equal saturation current, the proposed GDH structure shows better characteristics and short channel parameters. Furthermore, the delay and power delay product (PDP) analysis versus on/off current ratio shows the efficiency of the proposed GDH structure.     

The effects of source/drain and gate overlap on the performance of carbon nanotube field effect transistors

At nanometer regime, fabricating the structures with non-overlapped channel and abrupt doping profile is very complicated and sometimes impossible. So, the resultant device experiences some non-ideal effects which have to be predicted and well addressed by simulation before fabrication. In this paper the effects of overlap between gate and source/drain regions on the performance of carbon nanotube field effect transistors have been investigated. The overlapped structure has been simulated with various doping profiles at drain/source and gate region junction tip. The device performance has been investigated in terms of ON current, Off current, ON/Off current ratio, subthreshold swing, delay, and power delay product (PDP). Simulations show that depending on the variations in the effective channel length, the overlap deteriorates some device characteristics and enhances the others. Where the effective channel length decreases (increases), the overlap deteriorates (enhances) the current ratio and subthreshold swing but enhances (deteriorates) the delay and PDP compared to non-overlapped structure. Furthermore, the overlapped structure with graded profile results in lower current ratio and higher subthreshold swing compared to overlapped structure with abrupt profile. At a fixed current ratio, the delay and PDP of overlapped structure with graded profile are more than overlapped structure with abrupt profile but at a fixed channel length, both profiles have approximately equal delay and PDP.     

Application of a nanostructured sensor based on graphene‐ and ethyl 2‐(4‐ferrocenyl[1,2,3]triazol‐1‐yl)acetate‐modified carbon paste electrode for determination of methyldopa in the presence of phenylephrine and guaifenesin

We introduce a new method to determine methyldopa without the interference of phenylephrine and guaifenesin. For this purpose, a carbon paste electrode was modified with graphene and ethyl 2‐(4‐ferrocenyl[1,2,3]triazol‐1‐yl)acetate. According to electrochemical studies, oxidation current of methyldopa on the surface of the modified electrode increased and shifted towards negative potentials. This modified electrode demonstrated two linear ranges of 0.4–30.0 μM and 30.0–500.0 μM with a detection limit of 0.08 μM. No change was observed in the sensitivity of the modified electrode towards methyldopa in the presence of phenylephrine and guaifenesin, which enables the simultaneous or independent measurement of the three moieties. The efficiency of the proposed modified electrode was evaluated through the determination of these substances in real samples.     

Reaction of Isatoic Anhydride,Amine, and N,N′-Dialkyl Carbodiimides Under Solvent-Free Conditions: New and Efficient Synthesis of 3-Alkyl-2-(alkylamino)quinazolin-4(3H)-ones

Heating a mixture of isatoic anhydride, amines, and N,N′-dialkyl carbodiimides under solvent-free conditions provided novel 3-alkyl-2-(alkylamino)quinazolin-4(3H)-one derivatives for the first time. The products were obtained in moderate to good yields without formation of any by-products.

Supplemental materials are available for this article. Go to the publisher's online edition of Synthetic Communications® to view the free supplemental file.     

A dissected ring current model for assessing magnetic aromaticity: a general approach for both organic and inorganic rings

A model based on classical electrodynamics is used to measure the strength of ring currents of different molecular orbitals, i.e., σ- and π-orbitals, and characteristics of ring current loops, i.e., ring current radii and height of current loops above/below the ring planes, among a number of organic as well as inorganic molecules. For the π-current, the present model represents an improvement of previous approaches to determine ring current intensity. It is proven that the present model is more precise than previous models as they could not explain presence of the minimum in the plot of NICS(πzz) versus distance close to the ring plane. Variations in the charge of molecules and the types of constituent atoms of each species affect the ring current radii of both σ- and π-current loops as well as the height of π-current loops above/below the ring plane. It is suggested that variation in the distribution of the one-electron density in different systems is the main source of differences of the ring current characteristics.     

Performance evaluation of fast Fourier-transform continuous cyclic-voltammetry pesticide biosensor

In this work, a method for the fast monitoring of OPs in flow-injection systems was evaluated. The fast Fourier transform continuous cyclic-voltammetry (FFTCCV) at the carbon-paste electrode in a flowing solution system was used for determination of OPs. In this method the S/N ratio is enhanced by using of fast Fourier transform of the analyte and signal integration. FFTCCV can be considered as a new sensitive, accurate and fast method for determination of drugs and some pesticides. However, in order to obtain better sensitivity for a specific target, experimental parameters should be optimized. Response surface methodology (RSM) was applied to optimize three effective parameters (enzyme activity, multiwall carbon nanotube quantity and acidic sol–gel quantity). The optimum values for the tested parameters were enzyme amount H0.169 U cm⁻², multiwall carbon nanotube (MWCNT) 0.607 mL and acidic sol–gel 1.012 mL. The optimum feed pH, feed flow rate, ATChCl concentration and sweeping-rate were found to be 7.4, 0.34 mL min⁻¹, 0.750 mM and 10 V s⁻¹, respectively. The long-term stability of this flow-through system was 80% of its initial response after 120 days. Based on an incubation time of 12 min, it was found that the detection limit for paraoxon was equal to 1.7 × 10⁻⁷ mg L⁻¹ (6.2 × 10⁻¹³ M). The developed biosensor exhibited good repeatability and reproducibility. This study provides a new, modern, sensitive tool for the analysis of organophosphate pesticides.